Spring Cleaning

Even though the soil was still a bit too wet, today we went ahead and prepared our first bed. Our process for spring bed preparation is as follows (this is for NEW beds - or in our case, an established bed that has not been properly prepared for many years):

- First, weed entire bed.
- Make sure soil is dry enough to work by collecting a handful and squeezing into a ball. The ball should crumble and come apart easily under pressure. If it will not form a ball at all, it is too dry. If it stays together and compresses under pressure without breaking up, it is too wet.
- Using a 12" digging fork, break up soil by plunging fork all the way down and pulling back, moving back 4" each time, across the entire bed.
- For a clay soil, like in most of Bellingham, broadcast about 50 lbs per 1000 sq ft lime and work in deeply. Also work in 1-2 gal per 100 sq ft complete organic fertilizer (around 5-5-1).
- Add 1/4-1/2" well rotted compost and incorporate into the top 3-6".

After this was completed in plot C10, we transplanted all our perennial herbs from elsewhere in the garden. These included:

- 2 x Arp Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis 'Arp')
- 2 x Grappenhall Lavender (Lavandula x intermedia)
- Greek Oregano (Origanum vulgare cv. hirtum)
- Hot and Spicy Oregano (Origanum vulgare cv. hot and spicy)
- Sweet Marjoram (Origanum majorana)
- Garden sage (Salvia officianalis)
- Tri-color sage (Salvia officianalis cv. Tri-color)
- Purple Sage (Salvia dorii)
- English Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

We also moved over two Alpine Strawberries and one Pineapple Strawberry (Fragaria ananassa), a very sweet (and pine-appley) yellow fruited variety.

- Sowed 5 row ft Bloomsdale Spinach under plastic tunnel cloche

Today Emily transplanted lots of flowers that I held over the winter in pots or around the garden plot. Included were a few varieties each of German Iris, Coneflower (Echinacea), and Blanket flower (Gaillardia).

I also am attempting propagation by softwood cuttings. I took 6 cuttings each from two establish lavender plants. Provence lavender (Lavandula intermedia "Provence") and Blue Start Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoeches "Blue Star"). These will receive bottom heat for a few months until evidence of root growth.